


Ice Effect

by 10nightraven04



Category: King's Quest (Video Games)
Genre: Chapter 4- Snow Place Like Home, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Magic, Minor Violence, Writing Exercise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:55:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23289619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/10nightraven04/pseuds/10nightraven04
Summary: Prompts:Graham is too late; the Sphinx and Alexander pass the puzzles and head to Icebellas throne room.Alexander loses his magical abilities.More of a practice turned into way too much. This is bigger than both my historical essays combined.I’m not the best writer in the world. Buuut, I love this basically dead fandom, and I needed to do something
Relationships: Graham/Queen Valanice (King's Quest)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	Ice Effect

Graham stares at the ice sculptures around him, unsure of what to do next.

“ _I was alone, and cold, and had no idea where to go. And then things got worse.” Gwendolyn...well, she was invested, how could she not be?_

Atop the Enchanted ceiling above Graham, Alexander enters the puzzle room, curiously observing each part. Graham knows he’s no good at puzzles, it’s one of the only things he knows about his son, but he can’t help feeling a flash of fear as he watches the sphinx lead Alexander in the puzzle.

“Very good, Gwydion,” the sphinx chides, she speaks to Alexander as though he’s a small child who solved his first long addition problem. 

The purple snail-trail on the floor lights up as Alexander walks, and he’s proud. Earlier, As he had stormed off, his father had confirmed one of his only fears now, he was slowing him down. His family didn’t need him. He hadn’t known them long, but it stung to hear those words. As he recalled to that Reporter, Derek; things never went well for Alexander. Maybe Manannan was right, all those years he had told Alexander that his family could not be proud of who he was, he always _did_ believe him. But, the sphinx is supporting him here, maybe he isn’t so alone, after all.

“Thanks, it’s...actually been a while since I was called that. I kinda miss it.” He supposes it’s ridiculous, to miss his slave name, but that was his life. Like Manny. He was awful, and Alexander hated him, and Alexander certainly doesn’t regret giving him that tainted porridge,... but he was the only “father-figure” Alexander knew growing up.

The sphinx nods, satisfied with his response. “That name does suit you.”

Below, Graham searches rapidly for a way to the room above, he can’t lose his son _again_ , not after he _just_ got him back. After a few seconds, he begins to doubt he can ever fix things, his son will leave, thinking Graham hates him, and they will both be transformed into one of those failed ice sculptures by Ve--Queen Icebella.

_“If only I could just snap, and share the unconditional love burning within…”_

“ _Wait_.”..Graham glances at his hand, and then to the enchanted ice ceiling.

_“Maybe I could.”_

So Graham snaps, he snaps like he’s never snapped before, trying to take Alexander’s words about magic to heart.

_‘Magic is all about who wields it.’_

Graham hates magic, most of his kingdom does. And he _hates_ that _snapping_. But if the very thing that took his son away from him all those years ago was the thing that would save him in this moment, then magic it was.

_“I kept snapping, hoping something would happen. To summon a fireball, break through that ice and get to my son….but nothing happened. I tried for a time but it wouldn’t work. I was forced to watch that_ sphinx _twist Alexander’s mind in her own way.”_ Perhaps, it is simply his view on things. He never trusted magic nor those who wielded it, (unfortunately, his own son included) so maybe magic was having its own, cruel, justice. The king begins to call out to his son instead. 

Alexander is nearing the end of the path, watching the missing pieces of the trail on the wall as he goes, focused only on not dying, (as he had been since he learned of all the boys who didn’t make it to their 18 birthdate) not hearing his father calling out from below.

The sphinx walks beside him, “It’s a shame your father couldn’t be here to see this.”

That reminds Alexander, he pauses,“if you don’t mind me asking, Where is he anyway?”

“Oh, You beat Him here by a mile,” the sphinx lies without hesitation, Graham wonders what her game is, “Mr. Majesty is trapped in a puzzle and can’t figure out the solution.”

Alexander...doubts the sphinx, not that he’d ever confront her. But, he’d watched Graham finish all of the previous puzzles with ease, and if he could make it then why couldn’t his father? Maybe she was mistaken. But what reason could she really have to lie? What reason could anyone? Maybe Alexander still didn’t understand the real world...

the prince approaches the door, slowly reaching for the handle, hoping to find his family behind it as the sphinx said he would.

Graham continues to snap over and over and over again, in response to his shouting not working but it wouldn’t work. Why was magic so... _stubborn?_ Did it simply not wish Graham to have his way? He let out a frustrated yell as he continued. He should’ve known… he should’ve listened to Alexander when he’d said this whole labyrinth was a trap.

Alexander grabs the handle, slowly turning it, and opening the door.

“Well done, Gwydion!” The sphinx walked out behind him, and began leading the way up the large, winding, icy spiral in front of them.“For all the hate your family seems to hold for your childhood, it seems you were raised well.”

That strikes an unknown chord within Alexander. _Was_ he raised well? He always thought he was, growing up, that was _his_ normal. But his family did seem to hate the way he was raised, and Amaya the blacksmith seemed to agree. Was his childhood heartbreaking? Living in fear and anger is just what he’s used to, so is it really so bad? Did Manannan really do something so utterly wrong in the way he was raised? Alexander always thought that was normal for most everyone but royals.

But, if the people of Daventry agree, then is the _sphinx_ wrong? Was _he_ wrong? Does she not know? She knows a lot, so that seems unlikely. How does she know all this, anyway?

He decides it's unimportant, and follows the ‘oversized kitty’ up the spiral to his family.

_“As much as I tried, I just couldn’t get it….and by the time I did…..it was already too late.” Grandfather sounded bitter. Bitter and upset and so very sad. Gwendolyn knew this story would be a risky one when he first started the tale about her father’s kidnapping, and she knew the basics of his childhood, and knew her grandfather didn’t like talking about it._

Graham watches as the sphinx leads his son through the door, relieved the puzzle had been done correctly, but in much fear for what could happen to Alexander. So he keeps snapping. He snaps, one final time, and puts all the anger and sadness he’s felt since that fateful day into this one action.

And he watches as a quick, raging fire burns through the enchantment.

Graham is surprised, to say the least. His amazed stupor doesn’t last long, however, and he quickly climbs the middle spiral to the room Alexander had already left. Graham was bright,(and he reveled in his own cleverness) he wasn’t one to forget a puzzle just because he finished it, and if he hurried, he was apt to catch Alexander before he reached the top of Icebella’s tower.

Repeating his movements from the first time, he watches the tiles on the walls as he moves, quicker than last, which unfortunately causes a few stumbles.

_“I was sloppy, I’ll admit.” Gwendolyn had no idea how this could turn out, for some reason, she always thought this story went differently, even though she had only ever heard the slightest of references to it. “But can you really blame me? All I wanted was to keep my family together, and I couldn’t even do that.”_

Graham moves nimbly, and is so distracted and preoccupied he almost doesn’t hear the opening of the door behind him. He turns, and is bewildered when he sees who’s come into the room. The woman in the purple dress, next to the girl with short blond hair; Valanice and Rosella.

“Dad? Hey, mom, I think we might’ve found him.” Rosella points to Graham, a smug and almost victorious look on her face, As if she just won a bet. Graham would learn later she actually did, in fact, win a bet. She didn’t take after her parents in that she didn’t jump for joy.

“Yes, I can see that.” Valanice rolls her eyes, a moment of peace, before, confused, she searches the room, turning back to the king. “Where’s Alexander?” Rosella seems to have noticed the absence now, too.

Rosella sees something behind Graham,“And...What’s that?”

She seems worried, worried and confused, not something Graham is used to seeing in his daughter outside of her performances, and not something he really wants to see.

Valanice sees it next, her eyes widen as she recalls stories her husband has told her over the years.

Graham looks behind him, and it takes him a second to see.

The portrait, the one from Hagatha’s tower, _this_ tower. The one that shows youthful images of whatever is in front of it. And in this portrait, he sees the worst thing he’s seen in eighteen years; Manannan’s face, his _old_ face, the face of a goblin. 

His mind runs on overdrive as he thinks about everything he saw from the carving room below...the last one to leave the room was the sphinx...right behind Alexander.

A horrible feeling of dread hits him; the sphinx is Manannan, of course it is. The sphinx was the very person who had taken his son away from them, and he was the very person attempting to do it again.

“Dad...Is that-”

Valanice responded immediately, “Yes, Rosella.” She’s glaring at the image, unable to tear her eyes away. Rosella soon joins her in glaring, as if their stares at the portrait would turn the real thing into nothing more than a pile of dust.

Graham doesn’t bother saying a word, he quickly continues on the path of the puzzle, this awful puzzle, the only thing keeping them from Alexander, _and_ Vee. unbeknownst to Graham, behind him, Valanice had managed to turn away from the portrait, and was holding a small puzzle box. The box Vee had always kept all their time in the tower. She knew Rosella was watching, and held back her tears, to appear strong for her daughter. Though, Rosella lay a hand on her mother's shoulder, soft and comforting. What could Vee have gone through? Was she aware, the whole time, that she would inevitably lose herself to the frozen heart curse? Valanice pushes these thoughts away. No, she didn’t need to think of that, not now, when her children, _both_ of them, needed her.

They watched Graham scramble to solve the puzzle, knowing better than to interrupt. After what felt to the family like an eternity, (an eternity too long) the puzzle was solved, and the completed path of the floor glowed a familiar, luminescent purple. Rosella and Valanice forthwith began to follow Graham once he reached the door, and, together, the family went through, ready to undergo whatever they would have to.

_“Alright, Gwendolyn, it’s time for bed.” Her grandfather laid his head back, and took a deep, steadying, breath._

_“But, Grandpa-”_

_“No, Gwendolyn.” He sighs, “I’m sorry. I just need some time to relax my mind.” The story brought back far too many horrible, lurid memories._

_Gwendolyn looked dejected, she understood, but she wanted to hear the rest of the story. And fix her problem with Gart._

_Resigned, she responded, “Goodnight, Grandpa.” She left the room -only looked back at the fading light of the candles once- before heading to bed._

_The next morning, almost immediately after the family had eaten breakfast (Everyone except Graham) Gwendolyn ran to her grandfather’s chamber, sparing only a few moments conversation with her father._

_Her grandfather was still lying in bed, it looked as though he hadn’t moved since the night before.“Hey, Grandpa.” She jogged to the chair beside his bed, and said nothing more._

_“Ah, Gwendolyn, what brings you here this fine morning?” He gestured towards the door, a mischievous glint in his eye._

_Gwendolyn looked at him like he had grown an extra head and a tail. Or three. “Uh, the..Story?” It was phrased like a question. Did he really not remember, or was he just playing games?_

_“Ah, you want to hear another tale about a dragon. I suspected as much.” Her grandfather rubbed his beard, as he usually did when he was thinking of a story to tell Gwendolyn._

_She interrupted when he began a story about a violent, three-headed dragon. Everyone already knew that story anyway. “No, Grandpa, I wanna finish the one from last night!” She’d seen that mischief in his eyes now, and if she was anything like Cassima, (which she most certainly was) he could really be in for it if he continued...buuuuut that’s never stopped Graham before._

_He began muffling obvious laughter, “Hmm, and what, exactly, was that?”_

_Gwendolyn groaned, “Oh, come on! I wanna hear what happens with the sphinx and dad and Icebella!” She did a different, rapid motion with her hands for each point she made. The list could’ve gone on, but she wanted to hear more quickly. While she never had any interest in practicing it, magic always amazed her, and she loved stories about it._

_“Which story about Icebella? Oh, how she was cursed, in the tower? And which story about your father? Oh, I know, There was this fascinating one he once told me about the puzzles, and steps on the Isle of the Sacred Mountain, I'm sure you've heard this, but-"_

_“Grandpa!”_

_“Alright, Gwendolyn, no need to_ step _on my toes, don’t be so impatient.” Now that was just plain bad._

The moment the king steps through the door he breaks into a fast run, almost a sprint, but he isn’t quite what he used to be, and running from the Wedzel Wolves earlier took his energy for the day. Rosella follows suit, and loathe as it is to Valanice to run in such a long dress, she also follows. She knew she should’ve worn her shorter dress for the trip.

Above, they heard voices…

“You did very well, Gwydion. Though, I doubt your family would be proud. They hate magic, you know.” The sphinx continued to lie, not that Alexander could tell. He trusted far too easily, Rosella had apparently known that, because she’s the one who brought it up with him. But the sphinx _had_ helped them, so what was a little more trust?

“Maybe not…” Manannan had always said Gwydion was better off with him than he ever would’ve been with his parents. Maybe he was right.

‘ _Of course, sir. I’m very lucky’_

He had always tried to convince himself that it wasn’t true, each night he laid in bed he always thought about how good his real parents could have possibly been before they died. But with his argument with his father, he was beginning to think that maybe Manannan wasn’t always so wrong, maybe they really don’t want him. They just seem like such good people. But, like he’d told Derek, he would always be just Gwydion, and Gwydion isn’t the crown prince of Daventry.

“But, _I_ am proud, Gwydion.” The sphinx says something under her breath, something Alexander can’t hear.

“Sorry, w-what?”

“Oh, nothing concerning, merely thinking out loud.”

Alexander nods, he is going to have _pages_ worth to put into his journal later...

As they continue climbing The prince feels more and more regret for not bringing his mini-canvas, this is possibly the most beautiful place he's ever seen,(Not that he’s seen many places) if cold. He should’ve brought his cloak, too.

They reach the top, and Alexander hears something behind them, footsteps, quickly moving. Maybe his father got through that puzzle? He doesn’t have much time to ponder before-

“Hello,” He hears the distorted voice. He turns to see a beautiful woman, with long icy-white hair, and a flowing blue gown that looks to be made of ice, like the rest of her. There’s something vaguely familiar, though he doesn’t know what. “Welcome to the Ice Palace.” Alexander doesn’t think this place qualifies as a palace, it just seems to be a platform, with a large throne lying atop it, but he’ll take her word, what does he know? Plus those icy eyes say he shouldn’t question her validity.

The sphinx spoke for him, “This is Mr. Alexander-Gwydion, he came with Mr. Majesty.” She gestures for The prince to step forward, and blocks the path back down once he does. Alexander observes the room closely, not much to see. A large, kind of spiky throne. Ice blocks take up most of the small space, it looks like the ice-witch was carving. The carvings she has are rather nice, actually. The whole tower was rather nice, though he was afraid one wrong step would have him ‘gracefully repelling’ over the sides.

The family listened to everything. Rosella is the first to burst, she begins sprinting up the spiral, dead-set on giving this evil-sorcerer-big-cat-thing a piece of her mind. Her parents have no objections and follow as closely as they can.

Rosella steps out into the throne room, just as Manannan blocks her way…

She sees her twin poke his head around the sphinx’ large body, “Rosella?” He looks at the sphinx and speaks softly, quietly, thinking more than speaking, “But...You said the girls were already up here.” he had noticed they weren’t before, but wanted to wait until he had a clear reason before asking about it. An unjustified statement would’ve earned him at least a backhand in Llewdor.

“Well, I must’ve been mistaken, I apologize.” She speaks quickly, irritated, Alexander really does hope he didn’t cause that. He hates causing things, though he seems to do it a lot.

Graham comes up from behind Rosella, “Alexander! Don’t listen to him!” Him?

“What-” The sphinx turns calmly until she (he?) is facing him completely. 

“Oh, pay them no mind, Gwydion, they are trying to convince you to leave with them, but would you? Without your prize?”

Graham continues, “The sphinx is Manannan!” Alexander immediately begins backing away, towards the ice queen, because it makes sense. The way it talks, the way it holds itself, it all said Manannan. How didn’t he see it before? 

“Gwydion, listen to me. The consequences will be _dire_ if you don’t.” The sphinx attempts to grab Alexander, but only catches his scarf. Graham watches in relief as the blue and yellow fabric disappears into the chasm below. 

Rosella raises her sword, eyes burning with hatred, (when did she get a sword?) “Oh? is that a threat, _Manny_?”

The sphinx- Manannan, turns back to the family, “Oh, you morons! You’re really going to challenge me?”

Valanice responds, “Not technically. This doesn’t have to end in violence!” She turns to Icebella, her expression turns from angry to hurt. “Vee, will you listen to me?” Graham turns to his wife, he knows this won’t work, he already tried.

The ice witch falters slightly, unsure, but glares at the queen. “I hate that name, my name is Icebella, and you will refer to me as such if you wish to keep your _warm_ consciousness.”

Icebella steps closer to Valanice, in front of Alexander. “No! You are princess Vee of Eastern Kolyma! You are my best fr-”

The distorted voice interrupts her, “No! Friends do not abandon friends!” She reaches out, and begins freezing Valanice to the platform. Rosella goes to attack, but Graham stops her, maybe Valanice has the right idea after all, she seemed to be at least getting an emotion out of the ice witch. 

Manannan steps up next to Icebella, “That’s right, Bella, _I_ am your true friend.” He turns to Graham and Rosella, the latter of which is now frozen in fear, unsure of her father’s plans. “And liars cannot be welcome here, in a place of kindness and respect...Freeze her, then we can have more projects to work on.”

She starts to do as she’s told before, “Stop!”

A ball of fire strikes Icebella’s hand, she yelps, and the ice dissipates from Valanice’ form. Icebella turns with a glare, and Alexander is holding his hand up, ready to blast her to pieces. Icebella’s hand, which had mostly melted from the contact, regrows with fresh ice. Graham looks to Manannan, who is smirking. He pulls Rosella aside, Valanice is near his son, so he has to protect his daughter.

“Be calm, Alexander.” His mother reaches out, in fear for her son, but also her _friend_. “You could melt Vee.”

Of course, Alexander is perfectly aware of this fact, but Icebella’s not backing down so neither will he. As Icebella’s stance turns threatening, Alexander prepares to snap again….but stops.

Manannan stands behind him, encouraging him, “You know you want to. Destroy her. It’s in your nature, Boy.” Alexander pauses just long enough for Manannan to nod to the ice witch, and she sends a large, sharp shard of blue light towards the prince.

In a split second, Valanice is rushing to tackle Icebella, and Graham, alarmed, pushes Rosella in the opposite direction. She immediately moves, however, and rushes towards the younger twin, with her sword outstretched, she deflects the light at Manannan. Rosella stays at her brother’s side.

The sphinx dodges, stumbling, before quickly gathering himself and knocking Rosella off balance, Alexander attempts, unsuccessfully, to catch her before she hits the ground. On the other end of the platform, Icebella shoves Valanice off of her with a large, blunt piece of ice. 

Manannan runs to block Graham, who is headed to the twins.

This time Alexander and Rosella are more distracted, and they aren’t watching the witch. She sends off that same sharp light, but this time it hits it’s target. The shard dissipates as it hits the Prince. He yelps, clutching his chest, and falls to the ground, barely catching himself. His clothing is covered in ice.

Rosella picks herself up and rushes to her shivering brother. “Alex!” She grabs his arms and face, he’s cold to the touch. “Oh,” she pulls back, hissing, “I’m sorry…” She goes to grab his hands again, but notices something out of the corner of her eye.

Graham has pulled out his bow, and is pointing it towards Manannan, who is only staring at him in amusement. “Really, Graham?”

“What did you do?” The king is fuming, his bow arm is quivering with the tension.

Icebella steps up, she freezes Graham’s bow together, and he is unable to let it go, much less shoot it. “Do _not_ threaten my best friend!” The sphinx knocks the bow out of Graham`s hands, and it shatters on impact with the icy ground.

Manannan continues to taunt Graham, “I didn’t do anything, _Your_ _Majesty_ ,” He spits the words like a curse, before chuckling and gesturing towards the still-underweight teenage prince. “If you want to know what happened there, why don’t you ask the person responsible? I'll give you a hint; it wasn’t me.” The Ice Queen looks appalled that her friend was so quick to push the blame on her, even though it was _his_ idea.

As the wizard continues twisting things, Rosella tries to pull Alexander to his feet. The only problem is he’s refusing to move, he lifts his hand toward Manannan and snaps. Rosella’s eyes widen...as nothing happens. Alexander looks at his hands, which are trembling more rapidly now, as his breathing has also sped up. “Hey, hey, A-Alex, Calm down.” She places her hands on his shoulders, and he jumps, he looks around in fear and confusion, as if woken from a dream.

“I-i-it won’t work. Rosella. Rosella, why won’t it work?” He’s panicking, she can tell.

“Hey, calm down, it’ll be OK.” She takes his hands in hers, before he rips away from her, stumbling towards the edge of the platform.

“No.” Alexander sees the sphinx towering over Graham.

Manannan’s voice is rising, he is getting angry with Graham, “Maybe if your children were more wise, they could’ve protected themselves. Or maybe if _you_ were a better father, then _both_ of them could be protected. Nonetheless, _Graham,_ This is your fault.” Graham involuntarily flinches at the implication. 

Valanice pulls the puzzle box out of her bag, she knows this is her last chance. 

Manannan turns to the twins, his large, feline body walking towards them. “Maybe I can spare you for today, if _Gwydion_ agrees to reverse the curse.” Rosella shoves the younger’s shivering body behind her, staring furiously at the sorcerer.

Icebella is standing rigidly off to one corner. She looks to be in shock. Valanice takes this opportunity. She rushes to her friend, and holds out the box to her. Her eyes are glossy with unshed tears, and she speaks softly, “Princess Vee. My dear, sweet friend. Please, I need you to remember.”

Icebella looks at the box the queen holds out to her, slowly grabbing it. She suddenly feels something.

_A man kneeling in front of her, red cloak surrounding his body_ . _“I loathe second place-”_

_“Daddy! Come play with me!” Rushing down large hallways, ignoring guards, shouting._

_Icicles hanging from a familiar ceiling. “Vee!”_

_“Oh, You cheater!” A sickly middle-aged man, smiling kindly at her from his place in bed._

_Dancing. “-Cucumber Face.”_

_Dancing. “Vee! Be nice!”_

_The rush of memory hits her like a train, playing Duel of Wits with her father, Moral Quarrel with Neese, an adventure on a sandy beach with Graham. She remembers her father, his last words to her of never changing. She remembers the curse, the frost tonic which caused it, watching as the ice consumed her body piece by piece until it finally took her mind and memory._

“Neese.” Vee looks at the queen in horror, “What have I done?”

“All is forgiven,” Valanice reaches out, and Vee is quick to reciprocate the hug. They quickly break apart, though. Valanice sees her children, one lying dangerously close to the edge of the platform, the other trying to protect them from the large creature approaching. She spares one last glance at Vee; she nods, and Valanice sprints to her children.

Vee turns viciously towards where the sphinx stands, a fire burning in her eyes that could’ve melted her, granted the fire was literal.

“Sphinx!” She shouts with such anger it causes most of the royal family to jump, “You are done terrorizing them!”

Manannan looks at a loss for words, Graham looks on with pride in his eyes. Rosella turns to her mother, a question in her gaze, Valanice nods in response and, together, the girls manage to get a shocked Alexander to his feet.

Before the sphinx can say a word, Vee freezes him to the ground with thicker ice than what had been used on the queen previously. Anger can be a hell of an emotion, if strong enough.

The ice queen turns to Graham and the rest in turn, suggesting, “We should leave now, before something ridiculous happens.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hours later, the family and the newly refound Vee arrive back at Castle Daventry. With the help of a friendly bird, and Valanice’ always bringing quill and parchment, they were able to contact the merchant, and convince him to bring them back home.

Rosella rushed to her room, exhausted, while Vee and Valanice stepped into the kitchens to have a long overdue talk.

Graham is now seated in the throne room, on the steps leading up to that Regal seat, cap beside him and Alexander standing in front of him with a hand on his hip.

“Alexander….I thought we should talk about...well, everything.” He hates that this is the first thing they're doing now that they're home. But it needs to happen.

Alexander nods, fear hidden deep in his dark eyes.

“Let's start with your magic.” The prince breathes in sharply, ready to be reprimanded for his continuous use of magic, despite his father’s forbidding of it.

“Yeah, um, I’m sor-” The king held up his hand, stopping his son from continuing.  
  


“You have nothing to apologize for, Son.” He looks down in shame. “I never should’ve tried to stop you...from doing magic...If it’s a part of who you are, then I can’t take that away.”

The prince stares at his father in shock. Since when do parents apologize to the child? He had expected this to be a quick conversation, being warned about disobeying, and maybe something about how this curse on his magic was for the better.

“I-” Alexander looks down in sadness, wringing his hands together nervously. He doesn’t say anything more, he doesn’t want to.

Graham continues, “And I want you to know that we will do everything in our power to reverse the curse. Even if Vee doesn’t know how, we’ll figure it out.” The king waves Alexander over, motioning for him to speak.

The prince hesitantly takes a seat next to his father, “um...Magic was, I-it was the first thing I did on my own. W-without being told o-or forced to.” He glanced quickly at Graham, seeing him urge Alexander to continue. “It’s, well, you know it was how I escaped.” His voice cracked, but he wasn’t crying, he never did.

The king is deeply saddened by this, he should’ve killed Manannan when he had the chance, or imprisoned him. And he usually always stands with nonviolent solutions whenever he can. “I understand that you might not want to talk about it.” The prince was fiddling with his new ring, which was the first thing the king and queen had given him when he had come home. The ring was solid gold, with the Daventry crest of a lion and unicorn carved into it, and the name ‘Prince Alexander’ surrounding it. It had been gathering dust for 18 years, Graham was glad it now adorned his son’s finger. “But, if you ever want to talk about Manannan, or your past, or _anything_ … I’ll always be here.”

Alexander blinks his tears away, he hasn’t cried in years, not since that first beating, and he isn’t about to show his father how weak he is, “...Thank you.” He speaks quietly, before pausing, his mouth agape.

“Thanks, Dad.” And for the first time, he says it without a bite, or a second meaning. Perhaps, they could be a family after all.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This took longer than I’ll ever admit...
> 
> I like it a little tho.


End file.
